THE eighth edition of the Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival in Davao City returns to face-to-face screening this year, the organizers said on Wednesday, October 19.
During the Wednesdays Media Forum, festival programmer Jay Rosas said the film festival will be held at the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Cinematheque Davao along Teodoro Palma Gil Street after the festival resorted to online screening for the past two years.
The festival will feature a Mindanao and Philippines section to highlight films and filmmakers from various regions in the country, including the opening film Midnight in a Perfect Film by Dodo Dayao.
Aside from that, the festival also features Asian talents, including a Lao feature film The Long Walk by Mattie Do, and Singapore/Japan film Revolution Launderette by Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen.
Rosas said the festival's Asian Shorts category also features films from Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, among others.
“Kini na mga (These) short films have been exhibited in prestigious film fest in Europe, like Venice and Cannes. This is the first time that the local audience in Davao would be seeing these kinds of films,” he said.
Part of the festival are talks by educators and critics for participants, while prominent Asian filmmakers make up the jury of judges.
“Naa pud mi events na mag gather ang mga filmmakers (We will also have an event where filmmakers would gather) and they share and talk about films. We also have a special film talk about creative producing,” festival director Bagani Fiola added.
The festival started out locally in Davao focusing on the horror genre, but the organizers eventually included fantasy and science fiction while also expanding outside local films.
“What we are really aiming for is to expand horizons na dili lang diri sa (not only in) Davao or the Philippines but also internationally,” Rosas said.
Admission is free for the Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival which will run from October 27 to 30. ICM